A review article regarding safety of obstetric
acupuncture stated that acupuncture at forbidden acupoints does not increase
the risk of adverse pregnancy outcome in controlled clinical trials. The paper
was published in the journal of Acupuncture in Medicine.
It has long been regarded that some acupoints, such as, SP6三阴交, BL27小肠俞, BL28膀胱俞, BL29中膂俞, BL31上髎, BL32次髎, BL33中髎, BL60中髎, BL67至阴 should not be used during
pregnancy. These acupoints are called “forbidden” acupoints because they are
historically believed to be abortifacient among traditional acupuncture
practioners. However, the forbidden acupoint argument is not widely upheld by
the practioners of Western medical acupuncture, assumed that the concerns are
historical rather than evidence-based.
Recently Dr. DJ Carr in London, Britain reviewed
scientific evidence concerning forbidden acupoints to help acupuncture
practioners and researchers to make decisions regarding their use.
He collected the data from 1). A total of 15 clinical
trials (n=823 women, n=4549–7234 treatments), following acupuncture at one or
more forbidden points. 2). Observational studies, including one particularly large
retrospective cohort of 5885 pregnant women needled at forbidden points at all
stages of pregnancy, 3). Systematic review and meta-analysis of trials of
acupuncture for term labour induction and scrutiny of case series of
miscarriage and IUFD indicate there is no reliable evidence that acupuncture/EA
at forbidden points can induce miscarriage or labour even under favourable
circumstances. 4). Laboratory experiments on pregnant models have demonstrated
that repeated EA at forbidden points throughout gestation does not influence
rates of post-implantation embryonic demise or cause miscarriage, fetal loss or
resorption.
The review study suggests that 1). Acupuncture at
forbidden points is not associated with increased rates of adverse pregnancy
outcome in observational studies. 2). Acupuncture at forbidden points does not
induce miscarriage or labour. 3). Acupuncture at forbidden points does not
cause harm to pregnant models.
Reference:
DJ Carr, The safety
of obstetric acupuncture: forbidden points revisited. Acupunct Med 2015;0:1–7.
doi:10.1136/acupmed-2015-010936. http://aim.bmj.com/content/early/2015/09/11/acupmed-2015-010936.abstract
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